The background of what may be termed "the nut plate technology" is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,349, granted Mar. 17, 1992, to Michael A. Landy, et. al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,743, granted Sep. 21, 1993 to Michael Landy, et. al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,136, granted Jan. 10, 1995, to Charles M. Copple et. al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,228, granted Apr. 11, 1995, to Leonard F. Reid, et. al, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,104, granted Nov. 21, 1995, to Leonard F. Reid, et. al. These patents disclose nut mounting structures characterized by a tubular stem that fits into an opening in a wall where a bolt is to be located. The tubular stem is radially expanded within the opening to connect the nut mounting structure to the wall. The tooling and methods disclosed in the above patents for expanding the tubular stem are to be considered a part of the present disclosure. Thus, the disclosures of the above-referenced patents are hereby incorporated herein by this specific reference to them.
There is a need for a nut mounting structure that is adapted for easy and quick placement and retention of the nut following connection of the nut mounting structure to the wall. There is also a need for a nut mounting structure for use with a sealed nut that will hold the sealed nut in a sealed position when no bolt is connected to the nut for pulling the nut into a sealed position. It is believed that the wall nut and wall nut mounting structures of this invention will fulfill these needs.